Ashley Thorpe, a writer who lives in Manchester, has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026.
Thorpe is shortlisted in the Books for Younger Readers category for his fantasy adventure Spirit Warriors which is packed with Jamaican folklore.
Every year Waterstones’ expert booksellers vote for the books they believe are the very best in new children’s writing and illustration, with input from participating school children.
Now in its 22nd year, the prestigious award has launched the enduring careers of many authors and illustrators, including Katherine Rundell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Rob Biddulph.
Last year’s winner, The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please, shot into our charts post announcement and was also named our Children’s Book of the Year 2025 at the end of the year.
Ashley Thorpe is an author and editor who was born in Nottingham and now lives in south Manchester with his partner and a greedy cat. When he isn’t reading or writing stories, Ashley enjoys making music, gaming, anime, and being out in nature.
Spirit Warriors is an epic story of chaos, myth and adventure featuring ancient magic and all-new heroes in a battle between the living and the dead. Drawing on Thorpe’s ancestry and set in an alternate historical version of Jamaica, Spirit Warriors establishes a magical world and takes inspiration from the real-life spell-casting tradition of Obeah.
Ashley Thorpe says: “My reaction on hearing the incredible news was to cheer so loudly that I spooked the cat! I’m utterly delighted that Spirit Warriors has received such an honour and that my words have resonated with booksellers.”
Bea Carvalho, Head of Books, Waterstones says: “For over twenty years the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize has sought to spark and maintain a love of reading in children and teenagers through spotlighting the most exciting emerging writers and illustrators.
Our booksellers have selected a shortlist of twelve outstanding books which truly celebrate the sheer joy, escapism, and wonder to be found in children’s books today. This is a list which prioritises reading for pleasure, with picture books bursting with charm which adults will adore reading to little ones on repeat, and novels which are destined to be enthusiastically passed around playgrounds and friendship groups.
There is something for young readers of all age-groups and reading tastes to take delight in here: we can’t wait to celebrate and recommend all twelve of these stories throughout the year and beyond.”
